Fall victim, 94, 'failed by system'
THE son of an elderly woman who died following a fall in her home has hit out at Sheffield Council after a report into her death said she was "failed by the system that was supposed to protect her".
Maria Stones, 94, from Frecheville, died in February 2004 after her home help, from an agency contracted by the council, neglected to report a fall that left her with eight broken ribs.
Her son Edward Stones took the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman after criticising the council for not having an effective system for dealing with missed or late calls by agency staff and for not responding effectively to complaints.
In a report yesterday, Ombudsman Anne Seex concluded Mrs Stones was "failed by the system which was supposed to protect her".
She said the council "did not have an adequate system for making sure care agency workers delivered specified services" and "did not take effective action when the failures of the care agency were reported".
She added: "It can never be acceptable for elderly people whose care is the responsibility of the council to have to wait long periods of time for their next meal or for their medication to be given."
Edward Stones, from Ecclesall, said yesterday : "It has taken three years to get to here. The council have had plenty of time to put things in place and get things working properly, but nothing has changed. The Ombudsman said the council's failure to take up complaints with the care agencies was 'maladministration' but that's just a polite way of saying incompetent."
Mrs Stones died two weeks after falling against a table as she hurried to the kitchen in January 2004.
The home help was banging on the living room window to get Mrs Stones to turn on the kitchen light so that she could see the digital keypad that operated the door lock.
She finally let herself in, helped Mrs Stones off the floor and wrote up the daily log without mentioning the fall.
A misdiagnosis by a doctor meant Mrs Stones did not receive appropriate treatment to prevent the onset of pneumonia and she died in Hallamshire Hospital.
The agency sacked the home help and later terminated the agency's contract with the council.
Council spokesman Cath Roff said they "welcomed" the Ombudsman's recommendations, which included paying Mr Stones £500 for his time and trouble in bringing the complaint and £1,000 for a memorial to his mother.
She said from April home care providers would be expected to put electronic monitoring of calls into place so they were alerted when a planned call was late or missed and must send back up staff to cover the call.
Source: Yorkshire Post (28/02/2007)
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